Definitions
by osirisredgirl
Summary: n; obsession, confusion, destruction [Pairing 2 - Draco/Harry]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter. This was just written for fun.

**Status:** In-Progress

**Notes:** Written for the Pairing Set Challenge HPFC. Original inspiration from a Writer's Digest challenge.

**Character(s):** Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger

**Word Count:** 601

* * *

The effort to rebuild Hogwarts was projected to take several months. Witches and wizards from all over the United Kingdom had arrived at the school in order to participate in the effort. Even though Ron had been on the run for nearly an entire year with Harry and Hermione, he couldn't help but be surprised by the sheer number of people who came out of hiding in order to help. The damage that the Death Eaters had caused was extensive - explosions had buried entire corridors, nearly felled Ravenclaw Tower and the Great Hall's enchanted ceiling needed repairs that could only be done by someone who was skilled with charms and transfiguration.

So many people had died, and he had lost his brother. But with the entire family working on the rebuilding effort, they didn't have time to grieve properly. And to some extent, a strange giddiness had taken root in much of the wizarding world. Even though the threat of dark witches and wizards hadn't been fully eradicated, everyone was just happy to be _alive_.

Ron knew that if Fred was still alive, he wouldn't have wanted the survivors to stop their own lives.

Hermione was the one that had been in charge of repairing the Great Hall. It made sense to Ron, because Hermione was just about the most talented person that he had ever met in his entire life. She was pretty too, and not in the way that Lavender had been (though Ron was trying not to dwell on Lavender for too long). Lavender had always cared if other people thought she was pretty. Hermione didn't.

But since the Battle of Hogwarts, they hadn't kissed again. In fact, they'd barely even spoken to each other. Even though Ron knew that the reason that they hadn't really been able to talk was because Hermione had thrown herself into the complicated magic that it would take to fix the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall and he'd been helping to rebuild Ravenclaw Tower - it was troubling. He didn't want to finish rebuilding the school and never _know_ what they were.

"Heads, we start dating. Tails, we pretend the kiss never happened."

That morning, he'd wandered into the Great Hall with a galleon in his pocket. Hermione was in the middle of re-crafting the levitating candles when she noticed that he'd come to her station brandishing a galleon like one the Three Musketeers would be brandishing their sword.

"Ron, I'm sorry, but are you insane?"

"Just pick one - heads or tails."

Hermione lowered her wand and shook her head. "We are _not_ going to do this. It's not a good time." In the corner of his eye, he can see other students from their year working on repairing other portions of the Great Hall. The deadline was close and they were all trying to make sure that Hogwarts would be open for the next year of students.

"Right," he muttered finally, frowning as he surveyed the remaining damage - overturned tables and torn tapestries that barely looked like the bright, colorful ones that he remembered hanging in the hall when they were younger. "It's just - I know that Fred would have wanted everyone to get on and live their lives, you know?"

Hermione frowned at his expression. "Look, Ron - I don't want to hinge our future on the flip of a coin."

"What does that mean?"

A small smile graced Hermione's features. "...It means _Ronald_, that all you had to do was ask."


	2. Chapter 2

**Character(s):** Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy

**Word Count:** 539 | 1,140

**Summary:** n; obsession, confusion, destruction [Pairing 2 - Draco/Harry]

* * *

From the moment that Harry had slipped into Draco's compartment on the train, he had watched and waited. As he analyzed every moment, picking apart every sentence that he heard on the train and in the corridors, he was able to come up with the answer - Draco was a Death Eater. Draco had taken the mark. Why? He didn't know. Both Hermione and Ron were worried as he spent an increasing amount of time pouring over the clues that he had accumulated over the past few months.

In class, he would watch the Slytherin, wondering what he was thinking that very moment. Since he had to have taken the mark, he had to be doing _something_ for Voldemort. But each moment that he watched seemed to be fruitless, because in class or in the corridors or in the Great Hall, Draco's smug facade that he'd become familiar with over the past five years was perfectly in place.

However, the moment he found Draco in Myrtle's bathroom was different. He was hunched over the sink, staring at himself in the mirror as though he was trying to see if he was still real. He looked tired, but not broken.

It took Harry a few more seconds to realize that he could see his own reflection in the mirror, several feet behind Draco. The Slytherin was quick to raise his wand, but no spell came.

"What the hell are you doing here, Potter?!"

He took a few steps forward, even though everything in him was telling him that he should have turned around and gone back to the Gryffindor Tower as quickly as his legs would allow. "I don't see how that's any of your business."

But his business _was_ him. For a brief moment, Harry wondered if Draco had been tasked with trying to kill him or at least incapacitate him, but then again, Voldemort didn't seem like the type of criminal monster that liked to farm out his obsessions.

Suddenly they're close (too close or not close enough?) - Harry wasn't sure how they got that way, but it was clear that within the span of a few seconds, Draco had decided to abandon his magic for a physical attack. He had grabbed onto Harry's robes, nails digging into his shoulders as he tried to force him out of Myrtle's bathroom.

Draco was still trying to regain his image, and the moment that Harry realized that, he hated him even more. He wanted to do something to break it, and he couldn't even explain why.

He crushed his mouth against Draco's a few seconds later in the hope of doing _something _to make the real Draco come out. He didn't have a plan beyond that - but no sooner does he kiss him than does Draco return the gesture.

It's quick and for most of time Harry didn't know what he was thinking. Draco was pushed up against the sink and they were both half-dressed, and maybe they're both trying to feel something or do something to get out of their own heads.

Because in that moment, he was a _person_, and so was Draco.


End file.
